Human Resources Assistant (Apprenticeship)

Job summary

The role is responsible for supporting people-related activities which underpin our work within the Acas People Strategy. This is a key customer service role for the People Directorate, with exposure to a wide range of Human Resources (HR) activities, for example, Capability, Learning and Development (L and D), Mental Health and Wellbeing (MH and WB), and Employee Relations (ER).

The role would suit someone who is highly organised with good communication skills and enjoys working with a wide range of different types of stakeholders. The successful candidate will develop their skills in delivering a quality service, managing projects and problem-solving. Working collaboratively, the individual will need to be able to manage multiple priorities and deliver timely and well-judged advice and support to colleagues and managers both in the People function and across Acas.

This is an exciting 18-month apprenticeship programme where the successful candidate will work towards completing a Level 3 CIPD Apprenticeship qualification, which is assessed in the workplace and weekly online sessions. This position will give the successful candidate the opportunity to work across varied roles within the People directorate in Acas. The successful candidate will be supported by a manager, a mentor and will also be part of Acas apprentice network.

Job description

The postholder's main accountabilities are as follows:

• Support the Capability, MH and WB, Resourcing, L and D and Employee Relations teams
• Maintain various HR systems and databases with accurate and up to date information to enable effective audit, collation of management information and reporting.
• Work with managers to support the forecast of future requirements and provide effective planning to manage those requirements
• Advise managers to help them follow appropriate Acas policies as part of the Employee Relations team
• Support Acas managers with a variety of administrative activities, ranging from advertising, selection processes and hiring new staff to support with the acquisition and designing Capability, MH and WB and Land D interventions
• Engage with managers and payroll colleagues with on-boarding activities
• Work on HR and people projects across the people team and Acas
• Work with the people team to upload, edit and maintain the site, to ensure we have up-to-date information on our people information
• Manage and support capability and learning programmes using the training cycle; including needs analysis, design, delivery and evaluation
• Provide support to Acas colleagues to ensure activities are undertaken within the Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy
• Working collaboratively with Health and Wellbeing Champions, Mental Health Senior Advisers, Mental Health First Aiders
• Co-ordinate Data Subject Access requests (SARs) and FOI responses for the People Directorate
• Undertake regular horizon scanning for external Diversity and Inclusion, and Mental Health and Wellbeing news items and generating conversations in Yammer.

Who we are

Acas exists to make working life better for everyone in Britain. We are the experts in workplace matters, we’re impartial, so we’re not on anyone’s side. That means we’re working for everyone to help prevent, manage and resolve workplace issues.

Acas helps employers and employees by providing information, advice, training, conciliation and other services that prevent, manage or resolve workplace problems.

Acas: Britain’s Workplace Experts

Acas has been recognised for its Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace from the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion awards; it is a Disability Confident Leader, a Pay Gap award winner, and an Overall winner for public sector organisations. Acas is committed to providing services and developing policies which embrace diversity, promote equality of opportunity and eliminate unlawful discrimination.

Eligibility Criteria:

This is a development role, so to be eligible to apply, the training and development you receive during this apprenticeship must provide you with significant new skills and learning. This is an essential requirement for apprenticeship funding and means you must not already be over-qualified or over-experienced in this type of work.

In addition, you must:

• Not hold or be working towards a similar level or higher-level qualification to the apprenticeship UNLESS this is in a significantly different subject/business area
• Be aged 16 or over (there is no upper age limit)
• Have the permanent right to work in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK/EU/EA for 3 consecutive years before starting the apprenticeship
• Have left full-time education by the time the apprenticeship starts and not be in receipt of funding for other learning programmes (including another apprenticeship)
• have 2 GCSEs at grade C or the new grade level 4 in English and Maths
• You also must not have had a formal CIPD Apprenticeship qualification

Apprentices aged 19 and over at the start of their apprenticeship training, will no longer be required to hold or achieve English and maths qualifications to pass their apprenticeship. Apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their training, will still be required to achieve English and maths qualifications to support their career progression.

Failure to meet any of the eligibility criteria or not listing your qualifications in the CV/Qualification section may result in you being withdrawn and you will not be sifted through to the next stage of recruitment.

Please note: You will be asked to provide evidence of GCSEs and additional certifications during onboarding if you have successfully secured a role.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Must not hold any HR degree or CIPD qualification
• Able to produce high-quality work with attention to detail
• Highly organised, motivated, with the ability to meet deadlines and cope well with a complex range of competing priorities
• Proficient at using IT systems, with a good working knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Office packages
• Experience of working with customers

Desirable Criteria (the following will only be assessed in the event of tie-breaker scenarios):

• Knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint
• Ability to work on own initiative with minimal supervision and be proactive
• Interest in HR and ability to write to a professional standard

Qualifications

Applicants must already have 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at grade C or the new grade level 4 in English Language and Maths at the time of application.

If equivalent is held, please provide additional details.

As above, apprentices aged 19 and over at the start of their apprenticeship training, will no longer be required to hold or achieve English and maths qualifications to pass their apprenticeship. Apprentices who are aged 16 to 18 at the start of their training, will still be required to achieve English and maths qualifications to support their career progression.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,000, Advisory, Concilia